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Saturday, 27 June 2009

Workingman's Leica

The Hartmann Leica, $1475

After I published the post called "The Leica as Teacher" on May 28th, followed by "Why It Has To Be a Leica" the next day, a number of people contacted me to say that they'd been inspired to try the "one Leica, one lens, one year" experiment that I was suggesting. (Good going and good luck to one and all, by the way!)

My old friend Nick Hartmann did that very experiment—one lens, one Leica—but he did it for almost a decade. He contacted me last week wanting to know how he might de-accession his old trusty Leica and 50mm Summicron while at the same time helping it to get into the hands of someone who might want to use it for its intended purpose.

So: one Leica, one lens for Sale. Cosmetically it's what would be called a "good user"—it has a few scars, and some scratches on the baseplate. Probably the worst thing appearance-wise is that Nick blacked out the engraved camera name and the "red dot" with a sharpie, and, when that didn't quite work, covered them with black electrician's tape. He's removed the tape, but the engraving and the red dot don't look so hot.

However, it's been treated well and scrupulously maintained since new. Nick bought it in September of 1996 and used it "almost daily" until April of 2005. During that time he logged 500 rolls of film (you can see some of his work online), which means the camera has seen about 20,000 shutter actuations. The M6 shutter will go to about 100,000 shots before needing service, and has been known to last for as many as 400,000. So there's a lot of life left in this one.

The lens is also somewhat "experienced," but the rear element has been protected by being on the camera since new, and the front element has always had a protective filter on it.

Mike and Zander at the Cozy Corner, Oak Park, by Nick Hartmann

Nick shot one of the best photo archives I have—for years when we'd see one another I'd drag Zander along to whatever restaurant we met at, and Nick would take pictures of us, then send prints to me. I have them all in an archival box, and the set as a whole is a lovely record of me and my son over the years of my adventure in single parenthood. Most of those pictures, of course, were shot with this very camera and lens.

Anyway, if you're one of those who are thinking of trying the "Leica year" experiment, here's a camera you can use. Nick would like to get $1475 for the camera and lens, which seems a fair going price. He'll stand behind the sale, as will I: in June, a year from now, if you'd like to re-sell the Hartmann Leica again (assuming of course you haven't done anything grievous to it in the meantime), I'll advertise it again here on TOP and you can pass it along to someone else who wants to try it.

Anyway, if you're interested, leave a comment to that effect and I'll pass your email address along to Nick. (In order, if there is more than one.)

Mike

BONUS: In the spirit of passing useful things along, the buyer of the Leica can also do a favor for another (perhaps young, perhaps impecunious) photographer he or she knows: Nick will send a "good user" Canon EOS Rebel XT DSLR and an EF 50mm ƒ/1.8II lens to a photographer of your choice, for free. Just let him know the name and address of the person you want the DSLR to go to when you make the arrangements for the M6.

UPDATE: About ten people have expressed interest now, in the comments and via email (it's about 6 p.m. here in the Midwest). Nick won't be in his office until Monday morning, but he'll get in touch with people then, in order. If it doesn't go to #1, then it will go to #2, and so on...in any event I think we can safely say it's sold now. Thanks to everybody who expressed interested, and if you just missed it, sorry about that.

It really is a very generous offer & yet it points out why, for some of us, it can't "have to be a Leica" as even with generosity such as this, it's not justifiable. Nearly $1500 is one half of this year's property taxes for example. Or couple of replacement windows that will help lower our winter heating bill. Or ... or... or...

This is nothing against a M6 - I used to own a CL with a collapsible Summicron & only sold it because I couldn't afford to fix the meter. If I could afford it, I'm sure I'd be making an offer rather than creebing about it here and I do hope that someone who will really enjoy the combo. I'm one of the rare ones who really does like using a rangefinder, so I'll be rooting for the buyer for that reason as well.

Instead, I can quite happily "make do" with a borrowed Bessa R2C, a Kiev 4a and pre-war CZJ Contax glass - and I'll argue that my 1936 50/2 Sonnar can still, even after 73 years, hold it's own against the Summicron. And that 1937 50/2.8 Tessar is even better... ;)

That's a great offer!
I should start by saying that I live in the UK, but if Nick Hartmann is willing to post the camera across the Atlantic I would definitely be interested in buying it.
I'll be going to Afghanistan in September (I'm in the British Army), so the camera will be put to good use recording some interesting experiences. One Leica, one lens, six months in Afghanistan...

Nick - I would like to accept your offer. Nothing was said about any type of metering system, so I will assume there is none. In that case you may need to advise me on the best way to meter with this camera. I am too new to photography to be able to guess the exposure. I like the idea of a camera that has a "history" and would love to let this particular Leica and lens teach me how to be a better photographer.

Regarding the cost of this (or any film Leica): Let's not ignore an important point Mike made earlier, which is that the cost is the interest on the loan, since an older film Leica is on a flat depreciation curve. In the case of this particular Leica, Mike is even offering to advertise it.

In other words: Old Leicas that you want to keep still cost lots of money, but Leicas you only want to have for a year are nearly free.

There are hundreds of cheap rangefinders and SLR cameras out there, with cheap but good lenses available. If you need to go Leica, that's great, but there's a reason intro photography classes say "go buy an SLR, any SLR." I bought an Olympus OMG with a 50 for $30 and two more primes for a grand total of about $95, all off Ebay, and it's quite the little camera. If you want a rangefinder, some of the old soviet Leica knockoffs aren't too bad, and cheap too.

Why limit the experiment to one year? I've been shooting one camera one lens for roughly the past 6 years and shot over 2000 rolls. I think the use of such limited tools build an unconscious intimacy with the camera that is difficult to achieve with a zoom. It doesn't have to be a Leica, but the camera needs to become an inseparable appendage.

I like your experiment, but I can't get past the film aspect. It's like going back to washing your clothes in the river with rocks. How about doing it with an Olympus E-P1 with the prime kit lens instead?

I can't decide if I really want to do this or if I’m just being romanced by the idea of playing with a Leica.

I did spend a couple of weeks only using a manual 24mm on my dslr and found it very rewarding but I still know the sensible route if i were to go ahead would be to just use the manual film slr I already have.

But then why should sense come in to it? You've got me lusting after that Zeiss 35mm Distagon too as a "compromise" to use on the dslr as a standard lens. Grr :)

It's interesting. The one comment that stood out in this blog is the following:
"Probably the worst thing appearance-wise is that Nick blacked out the engraved camera name and the "red dot" with a sharpie, and, when that didn't quite work, covered them with black electrician's tape. He's removed the tape, but the engraving and the red dot don't look so hot"
Interesting because the first thing I do when I buy a new camera is to black out the mfgr name and model in the same way described here, i.e. with a Sharpie. If that coverage doesn't last, I use flat black paint to expunge all evidence of the mfgr info. I despise free advertisement, thus the attempt at erasure. It works, too, since I'm always asked "what kind of camera is that?". To which I always reply, "digital", or "what difference does it make?"
After all, it's not the camera that takes the picture, it's the photographer. Whether it's a D700, an M6, or an FA and film doesn't matter, it's the final product that is important.
adam

@ adam - not trying to start a war here, just genuine curiosity. Perchance, do you tape over the name on your sports shoes, remove the little logo from your polo shirts and prise off your car's badges? Let's not even think about cutting out all the titles on magazine pages...

If it's no to any or all of the above, why the exclusivity with regards cameras?

Eolake, interesting, if, I might argue, a somewhat inaccurate analogy there. I would more likely say that using digital is like sending your clothes to a laundry, film is like having a washing machine at home, you get to make more decisions.

'de-accession'? Look, if we effete, foppish Englishmen are good enough to lend you our language rent-free until you invent one of your own, it's only polite not to bugger around with it too much in the meantime.

I was tempted by the original Leica experiment and here again of course. As a complete newbie to rangefinders, the one thing that has kept me from jumping to it (Apart from my wife) is that I can't figure out how anyone can focus with a fully analog camera. As I understand it there is no TTL. Could some please solve this mystery of mine?

Christian,
That's what the rangefinder is for. In the middle of the field of view is a small rectangle or "patch" that shows a double image. You just turn the focusing ring on the lens until the two images come together on what you want to focus on. Good to go.

You do have to learn to focus and recompose, because the image is sharp everywhere else in the finder. But that's not as awkward as it sounds. You get used to it after a while, as you start to learn to "eyeball" distances and set the focus by feel as much as by using the rangefinder. It does take some practice to do this, but it doesn't take any practice to use the rangefinder...just takes a little while for it to feel natural.

"@ adam - not trying to start a war here, just genuine curiosity. Perchance, do you tape over the name on your sports shoes, remove the little logo from your polo shirts and prise off your car's badges?"

Can't speak for Adam, but I try not to buy stuff with logos on it, and otherwise I often remove or obscure them. You want me to carry your logo around in public? Then *you* pay *me,* buster.

That's an incredibly kind deal to not only part with his camera for a reasonable price, but to donate a DSLR as a learning camera too.

Makes me wonder why the big manufacturers don't have a trade-up / buy-back program to then re-sell refurbished cameras back onto the market. Most golf companies do this as the technology is so mature, the cycle of change can benefit people who just want decent equipment; but don't want to pay for this season's gear.

But then, I used to remember that trading in my gear with my *local* camera shop was how I used to keep changing camera gear. Pity this is an option that will disappear once we all start buying cameras from large chains, say Best Buy or Fnac...